[Salon] Ma rejects National Day invite over ‘Taiwan’

[Chas Freeman <cwfresidence@gmail.com>]

Mon, Oct 02, 2023 page2

• Ma rejects National Day invite over ‘Taiwan’

  • Staff writer
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  Former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) on Monday said he would not attend the official Double Ten National Day celebrations for the first time this year, as its English name, “Taiwan National Day,” implies “Taiwan independence.”

  Writing on Facebook, Ma said he has attended every National Day celebration since entering public service 40 years ago, but “with an exceedingly heavy heart,” has decided to reject this year’s invitation.

  For the past three years, the government under President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has used “Taiwan National Day” for the event’s official English-language title, leaving the “Republic of China” nowhere to be found, he said.

Former president Ma Ying-jeou, center, attends the Double Ten National Day celebration on Oct. 10 last year.

Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times

The move also goes against the Constitution and endangers security in the Taiwan Strait, he added, calling it “extremely detrimental and irresponsible.”

Continuing to attend the Oct. 10 celebration under these circumstances would “in a roundabout, furtive way be an endorsement of ‘Taiwan independence,’” Ma said, urging voters to remove the current government in January.

New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜), the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate, in the comments echoed Ma’s protest.

“Our country is the Republic of China and cannot be deliberately forgotten — even erased — by the Democratic Progressive Party government,” he wrote. “There must be a transition of power in 2024.”

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an event in Taipei, Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) said he does not understand why Ma has chosen this year to boycott the event, after attending under the same circumstances in previous years.

“National Day is a day for the nation to move forward together,” he said. “Hopefully everyone may unite in celebration and together defend the sovereignty, freedom and democracy of the Republic of China (Taiwan).”